V’ZUELA SAFETY MANUAL: PROOF OF KENTEX LESSON LEARNED

TWO years after the Kentex tragedy which used to place the Valenzuela City government at the center of heated political debates on the issue of accountability, it published a handbook, “Manual for Safe and Humane Working Environment,” as a sign of its commitment to help company employers to be more familiar with regulatory laws concerning workplace safety.

The publication of the safety manual is anchored from Rule VII, Section 30 of Ordinance No. 296 Series of 2016, which prescribes the “minimum standards for a safe, healthy, and humane working environment in Valenzuela City,” said the visibly-elated Mayor Rex Gatchalian.

The handbook’s reference material also contains other policies, mandates and guidelines in sanitation, building permit acquisition and business licensing in the city. It intends to be the official reference material for reviewing and planning industrial health, protection, and safety at workplaces in the city.

According to Office of the Building Official officer-in-charge Edison Ching Padilla, the essence of the handbook publication is to help maintain good housekeeping in factories and other industrial work areas.

He also explained the tripartite mechanism of upholding a safe and humane working environment. “The city government is there to make and regulate orders, the employers are there to implement, and the employees are there to cooperate.”

Business entities have until September of this year to comply with the prescribed measures enumerated on the manual. Those that would fail to comply would be subjected to work stoppage, revocation of permits, or closure, the local government said.

NAVOTAS PAYS TRIBUTE TO ‘MAMA SITA’

No less than Navotas Mayor John Rey Tiangco led in paying tribute to Navoteña culinary luminary Teresita R. Reyes, fondly known as ‘Mama Sita.’

He awarded a plaque of appreciation to Clara Reyes-Lapus, daughter of ‘Mama Sita,’ for her family’s donation of a framed Teresita ‘Mama Sita’ R. Reyes collection of commemorative stamps (series of 2013-2015) and two sets of her cookbook.

“We are very proud that fellow Navoteños have made huge contributions to the Filipino cuisine history. We hope that her legacy and the Reyes family will inspire Navoteños, especially our youth, to find their niche and strive to excel in it,” the mayor said.

‘Mama Sita was the eldest child of Engracia Cruz-Reyes, founder of iconic Aristocrat restaurant and a Navoteña. GOOD RIDDANCE/ARLIE CALALO